2014 Mitsubishi Mirage 5 speed build thread

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by Daox

A couple weeks back I made my own rear anti-sway bar for the Mirage. So far it is working amazingly well. It completely transforms how the car handles. Previously, there was tons of body roll in corners, and taking them fast did not inspire confidence. This is a big complaint with the car by reviewers and owners alike. With the bar installed, it reduces body roll massively. It feels well planted in the corners. No handling machine / Miata mind you, but a huge difference from stock.

Great job on the sway bar. I have been using them on the rear of my front wheel drive cars for decades. I have some suggestions for readers considering doing this mod. First would be to read the article by our friend Julian Edgar on this AutoSpeed - Anti-Roll Bars and Torsion Beam Rear Suspensions, Part 1. Second, be aware that this mod will tend to make our cas more tail happy, especially on snow covered roads. As we are headed into winter driving season one could consider removing it for the winter months. At the very least make sure to have good snow tires on front and rear. Never, ever front snow tires only coupled with a rear sway bar unless you particularly enjoy unintended spins on ice.

P.S. Perhaps if you take it off you could trim those unneeded lower corners. It is hurting your unsprung weight.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

P.S. Perhaps if you take it off you could trim those unneeded lower corners. It hurting your unstrung weight.

I actually liked this mod so much I had a batch made at a local fabricator and I now sell them. The production version is much more polished and pretty. Here are a few pictures.

[COcyclist]

Looks fantastic! I still need one on the mk IV Golf. I like the simple design of yours.

[Daox]

I updated my WAI the other day. The previous version took very long to warm up. In order to keep it warm, I had to watch how much cabin heat I used. No thanks, haha. So, I got a new 3" diameter aluminum dryer duct and went to work. It only took a few minutes to install, but it does work a lot better than the first version. It heats up so much faster, and it also gets warmer.

I've only had it installed for a day or so. I'm still trying to figure out just how warm its getting things. Ambient temp this morning was 25F. However, when I started the car my scangauge showed 40F for intake temp. The max temp I saw on the trip to work was 65F and it mostly hovered just below that. I'll double check those numbers on the way home since the car will have a chance to cold soak without the block heater (which I run in the morning).

[Xist]

Nice! What size was the old one?

[Daox]

I think it was 4".

[Daox]

This weekend I worked on a 3d printed grill upper block (us Mirage owners like to call it the mail slot). Its really a sweet little mod. There are three pieces that clip into the vertical supports on the upper grill. It installs in less than 30 seconds. I printed a few different colors just to try it out.

Printed a small test piece to see how the clip worked. First time it worked (that virtually never happens).





First version in EcoModder green!





Doesn't follow the opening profile perfectly, but not bad.







A few tweaks, and a few different colors.

[Xist]

It's not sticking out its tongue enough!

[Daox]

I am really liking these last two mods. The WAI plus the now fully blocked grill seem to really be doing the trick. I can tell the WAI is reducing my max power output. On the trip to work and home, there are hills where I have to downshift to maintain speed. I am no longer able to maintain speed on them. I slowly loose speed. This is a good thing because that means my load is increased while cruising as well.

As for how that chalks up to MPG, I've been regularly achieving 50 mpg to work. When winter first set in, I was only able to get into the high 40s without really trying. Last tank mpg was 45. Now, I can top 50 mpg without much effort.

[airbiteses]

Put the adhesive gasket in the gap between the mask and the bumper. In European they have factory seals in this slot.